Lempira does it big. Big menus. Big portions. Lots of tables. Lots of people filling those tables. A big waitstaff catering to those people. Since reviewing such a place is, therefore, a big task—but mostly because dining at Lempira was admittedly the fruition of much enthusiastic goading by art teacher/media-Hondureña/intermittent vegetarian, Christy—it only makes sense to do like I did with my Tajadas con Pollo and cut this baby in two.
Me
Lempira Restaurante is located just south of the Tyvola intersection on South Blvd, a half-Honduran/half-Mexican jewel among a glut of Latin American eateries on this stretch of road. If regular visits to Manifest are or were an integral part of your life, as they were once mine, you may have passed this place myriad times without taking notice. It's okay; regret is served best with lots of plantains.
And, as anyone who has ever been so unlucky as to dine out with me knows, I am best served when I have someone making food decisions on my behalf. Fortunately, Christy was willing to play carnivore vicariously and started me off with a giant bottle of banana soda and Baleada #3. Baleadas are wheat tortillas filled with mashed beans, cheese, and a variation of the other usual suspects. The #3 came with steak, cheese, beans, sour cream, and avocado. The name of this delight must share a root word with Balearic because eating it was like a beachside rave in my mouth.
On to the main course. Christy later revealed via High Fidelity-style top five list that Lempira’s Tajadas con Pollo is her all-time number one favorite Latin American meal. How could I refuse those auspices? A thousand words:
The Score: The bar has been set.
Christy
[Ed. - Missed deadlines can result in exclusion from future Goles y Frijoles activities.]
AHAHAHAHAAHAHA this is just perfect and i love your description of the baleadas. i'll email you my half so you can delete that ludicrous nonsense under my name.
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